On October 25, 2015, I ran the Surf City 10k as a part of A Snail’s Pace Pacer team. I originally signed up for the 10 mile race and intended to run it hard and fast. I’d never raced 10 miles and wanted to set a respectable auto-PR. The Surf City 10 shares the same start and finish line as the Surf City Marathon. Like the Marathon, I like this race series because for me it is a truly local race. The start and finish line is a short walk from my house.

When the opportunity to run with the Pace Team came my way, I dropped down to the 10k, stowed my dreams of PR glory and picked up a balsa wood dowel pace sign and pacer singlet. I was assigned the 11:00 minute mile pace, which is kinda slow for me. My normal easy pace is 10:30 mm.

In anticipation of running as a pacer, I set my Garmin watch’s virtual running partner down from Oprah’s 1994 MCM performance to an 11:00 minute mile. I then encountered my first problem. I’m not as young as I used to be. I can’t read my watch without my glasses, and since I only use my glasses to read, I don’t normally wear them while running. I got a rope for my glasses and hung them around my neck. Now they are available to use while running without destroying my distance vision.

On race morning, I checked in at the Pacer Tent where I met Jeanette, my pacing partner. Since I was new, I was paired up with an experienced pacer. We headed over to the corral ten minutes before the start, and were instantly barraged with questions from fellow runners. “Yes, we’re going to run at an 11:00 minute mile pace. No we’re not going to take walk breaks. We’re only running ten kilometers and not ten miles. Yes, you can run along with us if you like. No you didn’t need to sign up to run with us.”

Rick & Jeanette are ready to Pace

Paralleling Huntington Beach and the Pacific Ocean, the course is a straight shot up Pacific Coast Highway ("PCH") from Huntington Street to the turnaround a little after Seapoint Street and back. It’s pretty flat.

At 7:45 am, the air horn sounds and off we go. About three tenths of a mile in, I notice that we’ve got about 10 people running in the pack. Jeanette starts talking to our groupies. Most are new runners. One is asthmatic and is really struggling to keep up with us. My watches buzzes passing the first mile marker: 10:42. Oopsie. We went out too fast.

Jeanette and I dial it back in the second mile and fall into the pace. Jeanette and I start talking about other races we’ve done. As the fast runners from the 10 mile race run towards the finish line, we yell, hoot, and holler. We determine that the 11:00 minute mile pace is the Goldilocks pace: not too slow, not too fast. Mile 2: 11:19.

As the traffic light at Seapoint Street comes into view, I tell my assembled throng that it’s the turnaround point. We’ll head back after crossing that light. Most of the groupies are relieved to hear that. Pacific Coast Highway is a divided highway. The turnaround point is a little early. I think it was set not for its distance, but because there was a break in the divider between the northbound and southbound lanes of PCH.

About 2 ½ miles into the race I encounter the pain point of the pacer. I run with A Snail’s Pace Running Club most Wednesday evenings. Frequently, I’ll drop myself into a group of club runners and run in a pack. The slowest runner in the pack picks the pace. As my groupies begin to tire, their pace starts to drop. I fight the inclination to drop the pace to stay with them. Mile 3: 10:49

At the turnaround, we find ourselves folded into the bulk of the runners from the 10 mile race. In the middle of mile 4, Jeanette and I pass the 11:00 minute mile pace group for the 10 mile race. They left at 7:00 am and have a 45 minute head start. If we’re running the same pace, why am I passing them? Mile 4: 11:07

The conversation carries on as we head back south towards the finish. I’m spending more time staring at my watch. The virtual pacer says we’re spot on an 11:00 mile pace. In the middle of mile 5, I tell my groupies that when cross the mile six sign, that’s your cue to run really fast. Mile 5: 10:50

The last mile of this race is quite crowded, as the 5k runners and walkers now fold onto the southbound lanes of PCH along with the 10k and 10 mile runners. With the finish line looming large in our sights, at the mile six sign, I yell to my assembled hordes, “It’s time to run! Two minutes left! Go get it!” Most muster up whatever they have left and take off sprinting. As they start to kick, they pull away from me. I resist the urge to follow. I’m just a cheerleader. I gotta stick here at my 11:00 minute mile pace. Mile 6: 10:54.

Jeanette and I cross the finish line basically by ourselves. I collected my finisher’s medal, and noticed that the skag on the surfboard style medal doubles as a bottle opener. Shame that there’s no beer here.

I had a grand time pacing. It was real fun. It’s a completely different perspective on racing, and so long as the race isn’t one that I’m training for and looking to PR at, I’d love to do it again.

They have pacers for a 10k?  

I have never seen a pace group for anything less than a half marathon.

They have pacers for a 10k?  

 

I've never seen pacers at a 10k either.  Half marathons or longer.  A Snails Pace is my LRS, and supplying pacers is cheap advertising.  This race is run by the same company that runs the marathon in January and ASPRC supplies pacers for that.

Nice job, I was pacing the 10:00 group.  The course ran short for me as well.  Mile 4 measured 0.95 miles and Mile 5 measured 0.91 miles between the mile markers.  We also crossed the finish line alone.

What a great opportunity! I would have loved to do something like that when I was younger and faster, but pacers weren't common back then. Actually when I first started running pacers were illegal and you could be DQed for using one. Hope you enjoyed the experience enough to want to do it again.

Hi Lurch!  That is so cool that you got to be a pacer.  If you mentioned it before, I'd forgotten, so I didn't look for you at the race.  It sounds like you had a lot of fun.

Nice job Ricky Rick. The new Garmin 630 has a bigger screen, that might be an option for you.

The new TomTom Cardio watches also have a huge main display.

10:58 avg pace with a target of 11:00, pretty darn good!

Sounds like a good time, and a pretty difficult assignment, to be a pacer.